1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus used with a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile and the like, and more particularly, it relates to a recording apparatus having a plurality of sheet supply paths.
2. Related Background Art
Recently, recording apparatuses used with copying machines, printers, facsimiles and the like have been made compact and cheaper, and a high speed operation thereof has been realized. Further, it is desired that various kinds of recording media (referred to as "sheets" hereinafter) can be used in the recording apparatus. In addition, since a case where a single recording apparatus is commonly used by a plurality of users has been increased, it is also desired that there are provided a plurality of sheet supply paths communicated with a single recording portion to supply a large number of sheets.
Further, an amount of colored data handled by a computer has also been increased to increase a total amount of data to be handled by the recording apparatus. Accordingly, electric circuits for processing such large amount of data become large-scaled, and a part of the large-scaled electric circuits is provided on an extension substrate which will be attached to a main substrate upon transportation or by a user later.
An example of a conventional recording apparatus having a plurality of sheet supply paths will now be explained with reference to FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, an auto sheet feeder (ASF) (first supply path) 101 is disposed at an upper part of a main body 100 of a recording apparatus at a rear (left in FIG. 5) side thereof and is designed so that one of sheets S rested on a pressure plate 102 is supplied through a first sheet supply path (shown by the arrow b in FIG. 5) by a sheet supply roller 103 rotated in a direction shown by the arrow a in FIG. 5. The sheet S fed out by the sheet supply roller 103 is pinched between a convey roller 104 and a pinch roller 105 urged against the convey roller 104 and is conveyed to a recording position where an image is recorded on the sheet by a recording head 106. The sheet S on which the image was recorded is discharged toward a direction shown by the arrow c in FIG. 5 by a discharge roller 107 and a spur wheel roller 108 urged against the discharge roller 107.
A manual insertion sheet supply path (second supply path) 111 is disposed at a rear side of the main body 100 of the recording apparatus between a sheet guide 109 provided on a rear side of the auto sheet feeder 101 and a substantially horizontal sheet guide 110. The manual insertion sheet supply path 111 is joined to the first sheet supply path in front of the recording head 106. A sheet S inserted into the manual insertion sheet supply path 111 from a direction shown by the arrow d in FIG. 5 is pinched between the convey roller 104 and the pinch roller 105. Then, similar to the above case, an image is formed on the sheet S by the recording head 106 and the imaged sheet is discharged toward the direction shown by the arrow c in FIG. 5 by the discharge roller 107 and the spur wheel roller 108.
A manual insertion supply path (third sheet supply path) 113 comprised of a U-turn guide 112 is disposed around the convey roller 104 at the front side (left side in FIG. 5) of the main body 100 of the recording apparatus. A sheet S inserted into the manual insertion sheet supply path 113 from a direction shown by the arrow e in FIG. 5 is guided around the convey roller 104 by the U-turn guide 112 to be reversely rotated and then is pinched between the convey roller 104 and the pinch roller 105. Then, similar to the above case, an image is formed on the sheet S by the recording head 106 and the imaged sheet is discharged toward the direction shown by the arrow c in FIG. 5 by the discharge roller 107 and the spur wheel roller 108.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, since there is a single automatic sheet supply means comprised of the auto sheet feeder 101, if another kind of sheet S are desired, the user must go to the main body 100 of the recording apparatus to remove the sheets S remaining in the auto sheet feeder 101 and to set another kind of sheet S in the auto sheet feeder 101. This worsens the operability. Further, the single automatic sheet supply means limits the number of sheets S to be handled and makes the common use of the recording apparatus by plural users difficult. Furthermore, in the above-mentioned conventional recording apparatus 100, since there is a dead space between the plurality of sheet supply paths and an electrical mounting portion (not shown) is arranged at an exclusive space for the electrical mounting portion within the main body 100 of the recording apparatus, the recording apparatus 100 itself is made bulky.